Fire-escape



UNITED STATES ATENT FFICE.

THOMAS BROOKE, OF DES MOINES, IOWA.

FIRE-ESCAPE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 292,981, dated February 5, 1884.

Application filed November 3, 1883. (No model.)

150 all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, THOMAS Bnooxn, of Des Moines, in the county of Polk and State of Iowa, have invented an Improved Fire-Escape, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the class of devices in which a slide is placed and operated upon a suspended rope to regulate the descent of. persons from the windows of burning build lngs.

It consists in the combination of a metal slide or frame, a flexible rope, one or two detachable belts,anda detachable spool in such a manner that the rope can be readily coiled on the spool, and the complete device compactly stored away and carried in a valise, or hung upon a nail or clothes-hook in a room when not in use, to bein readiness for the purpose of affbrding speedy and safe exit from the upper part of a burning building, ashereinafter fully set forth.

Figure 1 of my accompanying drawings is a perspective view, showing my complete device ready to fasten in position, as required for practical use in descending from a build ing therewith. Fig. 2 shows the reel and one of the belts detached. Fig. 3 shows the side bar and bearing for a second belt left off.

Jointly considered, these figures clearly illustrate the construction, application, and operation of my complete invention.

a is a straight and solid metal bar, and b b are dead-eyes formed integral with its ends.

0 is a brace and handle extending from one eye to the other, and formed integral therewith by casting the device complete in one piece in a mold, or by forging and welding it of wrought metal, or in any suitable way.

No. 1 is a flexible belt adapted to surround the body of a person, detaohably connected at both its ends with the lower dead-eye by means of snap-hooks. No. 2 is a similar belt connected with the brace c.

d is a frame adapted to form a support for a spool. It has a hook, f, at its top and center, by means of which it is detachably connected with the lower dead-eye b in such a manner that it will support a spool, g, in a horizontal position. Bearings for the axle of the spool are formed in or fixed to the ends of the frame.

h is a rope,that is preferably made fire-proof and provided with a loop, 2 at one end, and wound upon the spool, and its end having a loop then passed through the lower dead-eye and wound around the straight bar a, and secured thereto by extending it through the upper eye, as clearly shown.

In the practical use of my fire-escape thus constructed, I fasten the free end of the rope to a fixed hook by means of the loop, or tie it to some fixed object in the room from which I wish to escape. I next free one end of the belt No. 1 and take it around my body, and

then fasten it again in the dead eye, W'hen thus 6 5 connected with the sliding escape, I step out of the window and descend to the ground, by force of gravity, at a slow and safe rate of speed. Thefriction of the dead-eyes b and the straight bar 0., around which the rope is spi- 7o rally coiled, causes the complete device to slide slowly down upon theirope as it unwinds from the spool in the frame at mystic. i

To attach and carry a second person Wllfil me, as I descend, I clasp the No. 2 belt around the person and attach it to the brace c.

The center of gravityof the combined weight of the two persons will then be retained in the perpendicular line of the rope,and the persons and sliding device will be automatically adjusted so the persons will descend side by side without bearing upon each other.

I claim as my invention- The improved fire-escape consisting of the sliding frame a b b c, the spool-frame df, car- 

